Lavrov, Kerry to meet shortly, place and time being agreed

MOSCOW, March 29 /ITAR-TASS/. Following up on the agreements reached by the presidents of Russia and the United States, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Secretary of State John Kerry will meet in the very near future, a source in the Russian Foreign Ministry told ITAR-TASS on Saturday, March 29.

“The date and the place of the meeting are being agreed,” he said.

Western mass media said Kerry was heading to Paris where he was planning to meet with Lavrov within the next few days in order to discuss the situation in Ukraine.

In a telephone conversation with U.S. President Barack Obama earlier in the day, President Vladimir Putin suggested discussing possible international steps to help stabilise the situation in Ukraine.

Putin drew Barack Obama’s attention to continued rampage of extremists who are committing acts of intimidation towards peaceful residents, government authorities and law enforcement agencies in various regions and in Kiev with impunity, the presidential press service said.

The two presidents agreed that specific parameters for this joint work would be discussed by the Russian and U.S. foreign ministers in the near future.

Earlier on Saturday, Kerry called Lavrov to discuss the crisis in Ukraine and further contacts on this issue.

“Following up on the telephone conversation between the presidents of Russia and the United States, Lavrov and Kerry continued to discuss the crisis in Ukraine and considered a schedule of further contacts on this issue,” the Foreign Ministry said.